The library site for this school is part of a co-educational primary school located in the southern district of the Brisbane Archdiocese. The school caters for 500 enrolled students from Prep to Year 7, and a staff of 56. At this school the library goes under the title Resource Centre, which is run by a full time librarian and part time library aide. The Resource Centre is open from 8:15am to 3:15pm daily and is accessible to the students at lunch time and afternoon tea. Different year levels are assigned specific days to use the Resource Centre with its bank of 15 computers and 30 iPads at lunch time. It is a well supported, well resourced library which is welcoming to all. The Resource Centre is well utilised as the students are able to use the library during lunch times to:
borrow and return books,
ready quietly,
play board games,
use computers or iPads for school based activities,
participate in Chess Club
participate in Tech Club
Site 2
The library site for this school is part of a co-educational inner city primary school located in the northern district of the Brisbane Archdiocese. There is a total of 56 children enrolled in the school from Prep to Year 7. The Teacher Librarian is part time, with 11 hours as Teacher Librarian and an additional 1 day as teacher release. The clientele is a middle to lower socio- economic one. The library is a small one, recently refurbished. Due to the fact that the librarian is only there 11 hours a week, there is little opportunity for the students to access the library when she is not there. Regretfully, the library is under-resourced due to a lack of funds. There are no computers in the library for student use at lunch times.
Site 3
The school at Site 3 is a small state primary school situated along the Capricorn coast in Central Queensland. It caters for 250 children of middle economic level. The library has been recently refurbished, although it does not have a full time Teacher Librarian. The library is well resourced when it comes to reading material for the students and teacher resources, however, there are no computers for general class use in the library as the school has a bank of 30 computers in a Computer Lab which is in the next room. The library is accessible to the students at all times as it houses a number of activities, such as chess, a reading group and indoor board games during selected lunch times. Due to the fact that there would be an adult present during these activities, the students are still able to return and borrow books at this time.
My observations and understandings of the teacher librarian and the operation of the library are outlined in the three categories of standards:
Having witnessed the great difference between the three schools in which I completed my situated professional practice, I marvel that all schools are expected to offer all students an equal opportunity at a quality education. I wonder, with the inequality across the three schools, how we are ever going to achieve such goals such as those outlined in the Melbourne Declaration (2008) - "Goal 1: Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence." and furthermore, "...ensure that socioeconomic disadvantage ceases to be a significant determinant of educational outcomes..." I hardly think that the students in Site 2 are given the same opportunities as the students in Site 3. That is not to say that the education offered is of a poorer standard, but that the resources available to the teachers and students to enhance learning differ greatly. Another aspect I found quite thought provoking was that there are many schools which do not have full time Teacher Librarians, in fact I was horrified to learn that there are a number of schools which I have been in contact with which do not have Teacher Librarians at all - and this has been the case for many years. I shudder to think how we are supposed to continue to foster a love for and engagement in reading when we don't have our Teacher Librarians available to work with students and teachers on a regualr basis. I can only hope that this will not continue to be the trend in years to come.
SITUATED PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
Site 1
The library site for this school is part of a co-educational primary school located in the southern district of the Brisbane Archdiocese. The school caters for 500 enrolled students from Prep to Year 7, and a staff of 56. At this school the library goes under the title Resource Centre, which is run by a full time librarian and part time library aide. The Resource Centre is open from 8:15am to 3:15pm daily and is accessible to the students at lunch time and afternoon tea. Different year levels are assigned specific days to use the Resource Centre with its bank of 15 computers and 30 iPads at lunch time. It is a well supported, well resourced library which is welcoming to all. The Resource Centre is well utilised as the students are able to use the library during lunch times to:
Site 2
The library site for this school is part of a co-educational inner city primary school located in the northern district of the Brisbane Archdiocese. There is a total of 56 children enrolled in the school from Prep to Year 7. The Teacher Librarian is part time, with 11 hours as Teacher Librarian and an additional 1 day as teacher release. The clientele is a middle to lower socio- economic one. The library is a small one, recently refurbished. Due to the fact that the librarian is only there 11 hours a week, there is little opportunity for the students to access the library when she is not there. Regretfully, the library is under-resourced due to a lack of funds. There are no computers in the library for student use at lunch times.
Site 3
The school at Site 3 is a small state primary school situated along the Capricorn coast in Central Queensland. It caters for 250 children of middle economic level. The library has been recently refurbished, although it does not have a full time Teacher Librarian. The library is well resourced when it comes to reading material for the students and teacher resources, however, there are no computers for general class use in the library as the school has a bank of 30 computers in a Computer Lab which is in the next room. The library is accessible to the students at all times as it houses a number of activities, such as chess, a reading group and indoor board games during selected lunch times. Due to the fact that there would be an adult present during these activities, the students are still able to return and borrow books at this time.
My observations and understandings of the teacher librarian and the operation of the library are outlined in the three categories of standards:
PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE
· Information literacy
· Collection management
PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE
· Collection development
PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT
· Promotion of reading
REFLECTION
Having witnessed the great difference between the three schools in which I completed my situated professional practice, I marvel that all schools are expected to offer all students an equal opportunity at a quality education. I wonder, with the inequality across the three schools, how we are ever going to achieve such goals such as those outlined in the Melbourne Declaration (2008) - "Goal 1: Australian schooling promotes equity and excellence." and furthermore, "...ensure that socioeconomic disadvantage ceases to be a significant determinant of educational outcomes..." I hardly think that the students in Site 2 are given the same opportunities as the students in Site 3. That is not to say that the education offered is of a poorer standard, but that the resources available to the teachers and students to enhance learning differ greatly.
Another aspect I found quite thought provoking was that there are many schools which do not have full time Teacher Librarians, in fact I was horrified to learn that there are a number of schools which I have been in contact with which do not have Teacher Librarians at all - and this has been the case for many years. I shudder to think how we are supposed to continue to foster a love for and engagement in reading when we don't have our Teacher Librarians available to work with students and teachers on a regualr basis. I can only hope that this will not continue to be the trend in years to come.